February 27, 2007

Atwatergate: 'Blunted by Infighting'

SPEAKING OF THINGS NEWSPAPERS might be sniffing for, our Atwater Village non elections could catch the eye of the LA Times reporter behind this piece about neighborhood councils being "blunted by infighting, poor community outreach and a lack of influence with key city departments."

Particularly newsworthy since the mayor appointed Carol Baker Tharp as LA's new Department of Neighborhood Empowerment general manager.

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Just when you thought everything was going well with the election of a new Board of Directors for Atwater Village Neighborhood Council (AVNC), controversy has erupted again! It’s reminiscent of the last attempt to hold this election back in February when scandalous misconduct and fraud was exposed, and the election was cancelled. This time around the AVNC Election hopefully will be held as scheduled (Saturday, October 6th, 9am to 4pm, Holy Trinity Church, 3716 Boyce Avenue), but not without controversies and some alleged conspiracies du jour.

The Controversy

If you are familiar with the AVNC official website (www.atwatervillage.org), there is an online forum in their menu. This open community forum has been shut down until after the election due to a post regarding the cancellation of last February’s AVNC Board Election and the involvement of a candidate who is currently running in this next election. Within a very short time, someone contacted election officials and complained about the posting. The election officials then decided to take the entire forum down and off-line until after the Oct. 6th election. All this was done in very short order and without the AVNC Board of Directors being aware of it! This candidate or an operative leveraged more control than which should be allowed, and obviously there’s something to hide. Furthermore, either the candidate or an operative colluded with election officials to keep the skeleton in the closet!

It’s unfortunate that the AVNC has had to contend with these controversies, and more unfortunate the manner in which this most recent one is being dealt with. Neither the AVNC, the current Election Committee, or this election’s administrator have made explanations available to the public. As more information is disclosed, this may escalate to “Atwatergate” once again!